


Drivers' Ed

by TomBerensonsGhost



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27585310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomBerensonsGhost/pseuds/TomBerensonsGhost
Summary: Just a normal weekend for a bunch of normal high schoolers.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Drivers' Ed

* * *

Clusters of students were gathered in the school parking lot, some chatting, some yawning, some nervously fidgeting. A tall, blonde girl readjusted her sunglasses with one hand, a large cup of coffee clutched in the other. Beside her, a nervous-looking boy pulled at the sleeve of his jacket.

“Stop that,” the girl said, taking his hand in hers. “It fits perfectly.”

“Sorry. I’m not used to clothes that fit,” he replied. She bumped him with her shoulder and handed him the steaming cup. He took a sip and grimaced.

“It’s too sweet,” he complained.

“No. It’s just right.” She took the cup back and downed the steaming liquid in one gulp.

Rachel looked over Tobias’ shoulder to see Marco and Jake approaching. At the same time, Tobias looked over Rachel’s shoulder to see Cassie and Jake approaching.

“Here they come,” they both said, then proceeded to do a comedy double-take that Dick Van Dyke would have been proud of. Rachel was glad that she had already finished her coffee so she didn’t have to do a spit-take also.

“You wait here, I’ll see what’s going on,” she said, stalking off towards the Marco-Jake pair as Tobias waited patiently for the Cassie-Jake pair to make their way over to him.

“Hey! I didn’t know you were going to be here!” Rachel exclaimed as she closed in on Marco.

“Yes, we are here to receive instruction in driving a vehicle. Ickle. Hick-ul,” Jake replied.

“I see. And I suppose it was _Marco_ who led you to believe it would be a good idea to come… like this?” Rachel asked, cutting through Marco with a glare.

“Yeah, it’s fine. He already knows how to drive a space ship, he just wanted to learn how to drive a car. It’s no big deal, we’ll just stay on opposite sides of the parking lot, make sure they don’t get into the same car, and if anyone gets suspicious, he’ll just say his name is… I don’t know, Aaron, or something. No one will notice.” Marco explained.

“And I suppose Jake knows about this?”

“Of course he knows,” Marco reassured her.

Rachel crossed her arms.

“I mean, he knows that Ax has a Jake morph.”

“Uh-huh.” The instructors were beginning to separate people into groups, assigning them to their cars.

“And that Ax wants to learn how to do normal earth stuff.”

Rachel pursed her lips.

“You three, car number six!” a bored-looking woman with a clipboard barked at them.

“Look, if he didn’t put two and two together and predict this, that’s on him!”

“Well, it’s too late now,” Rachel said, pushing them towards the row of cars. She glanced down the lane and saw Cassie, Jake, and Tobias climbing into a yellow sedan at the other end of the parking lot.

“You’ve already ruined my chance to hang out with Tobias this morning, so just try not to make things worse,” she hissed as their instructor approached their car, an identical yellow sedan with ‘STUDENT DRIVER’ painted in bold print on every side.

The instructor took out her pen. “Names?” she said, without glancing up from her clipboard.

“Hello! I am Jake Berenson, but I might also be Aaron! I am not sure yet. Have you noticed anything unusual?”

The instructor finally looked up, taking a hard look at Ax, then letting her eyes glide over to Marco and Rachel, who was rubbing her temples in preparation of the headache that would soon be forming.

“Uh-huh,” the instructor said, jotting something down before flipping the page. “And you?”

“Rachel Berenson.”

The instructor looked up, eyed Rachel up and down, and wrote her name down.

“Marco Cabrera,” Marco interrupted before she could ask. “And I have to say, I’m really excited to have you as an instructor today. I’ve heard great things about you.”

“Have you, Mr. Cabrera? Tell me, what’s my name?” The instructor stared at Marco, head cocked slightly to one side. The way her brown hair hung on either side of her face made her look like a quizzical, but unamused, cocker spaniel.

“Oh, I—”

“I am Ms. Parker,” she interrupted. “If you think of any jokes that have to do with my name or my profession, I assure you that I have already heard them, and do not wish to again.” She held up the keys to the car. “Who would like to begin?”

“I will!” Rachel snatched the keys out of Ms. Parker’s hand before Ax had a chance to open his mouth. “I’d like to start, if you don’t mind,” she said more calmly, smiling and straightening her posture.

Ms. Parker climbed into the passenger seat of the car, while Rachel, Marco, and Ax all walked over to the driver’s side. Rachel opened her door as Marco and Ax fought for the handle of the back door.

“I would like to sit on this side of the vehicle,” Ax said, clutching the handle. Other cars were already pulling out of parking spots around them, making their slow and halting journey around the obstacle course set up for them.

“No way! Everyone knows that the driver protects their side of the car in the event of an accident. _I’m_ going to sit behind Rachel.”

“Do you think that is true if the driver is the one causing the accident?” Ax queried.

“ _Get in the car,_ ” Rachel hissed.

“You know what? You’re right. You take this side, Aaaaa—I mean, Jake.”

Marco scurried around to the other side of the car and hopped in the back seat as Rachel slid into the front.

“You may begin,” Ms. Parker said. She was already settled into her seat, buckled in, with her pen poised over the grading sheet on her clipboard.

Rachel settled herself into the driver’s seat, adjusting its position and the angle of the side view mirrors, and was just reaching up to adjust the rear view mirror when Marco chimed in.

“Now remember, Rachel, that mirror is for viewing the other cars behind you, not admiring your own lip gloss.”

“Of course, Marco,” Rachel smiled sweetly. “I just have to angle it this way a little so that it doesn’t catch your reflection and shatter while I’m driving. Would you deduct points for that, Ms. Parker?”

“If another student’s face breaks the rear view mirror while you are driving I will split the deduction between you,” Ms. Parker deadpanned. “Please start the engine.”

“Ms. Parker,” Ax began, leaning forward. “What kind of engine is this vehicle equipped with?”

“Internal combustion, just like all the other cars, Mr. Berenson.”

“Thank you, that is horrifying,” Ax replied, leaning back into his seat.

Rachel started the car and shifted it into drive. She pulled smoothly out of the parking spot.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the parking lot…

“Welcome students! I’m Mr. Priving and I’ll be your driving… instructor!” Mr. Priving was short, smiling, and had a head full of long, black hair that he kept gelled artfully back. He reminded Jake of Marco, if Marco grew up with less drama and more Dad Jokes. He reminded Cassie of the Ornate Hawk-eagle that was currently recovering in her barn. He (or rather, his large watch) reminded Tobias that he only had an hour and forty-five minutes left in his human morph, so they had better get started.

“Who would like to start driving today?” Mr. Priving asked the three students lined up in front of him. Cassie and Tobias glanced at each other and took a small step backwards, leaving Jake standing at the front of the group.

“Very good, Mr…?” Mr. Priving inquired.

“Uh, Berenson. Jake Berenson,” Jake responded, looking behind him at a sheepish Cassie and an apparently oblivious Tobias.

They all climbed into the car as Mr. Priving continued with his roll call.

“Now I don’t seem to have a ‘Cassie’ on my list. I have a Cassiopeia?”

“Yeah, that’s me!” Cassie said quickly before adding “I go by Cassie.”

Jake peered at her in the rear view mirror. “I didn’t know that.”

“Oh, um. My real dad was an astronomer.”

“Very interesting! So that must make you Tobias Fangor? That’s an interesting name also.”

“Yeah, my real dad was an Anda—lusian.”

“Mm, I love Spain,” Mr. Priving hummed. “But! For now, we are here in America, and we are learning to drive! Please begin Mr. Berenson.”

“WHAT is that smell?!?” Rachel demanded, turning a sharp left around a set of orange cones.

“I have discovered some Funyuns in the pocket of this jacket that Marco gave me. Fun-yuns. Fun onions. Un-yuns.”

“Gross, dude! I haven’t worn that jacket since last winter.”

“That may explain why these are no more fun to eat than regular onions.”

Ax unbuckled his seat belt and leaned onto the floor of the car, pushing his shoulder into the back of the driver’s seat as Rachel pulled up to the makeshift stop sign at the corner of the English building.

“What are you doing now?” Rachel demanded, leaning into the steering wheel as the back of her seat lurched forward.

“The velocity of the last turn caused me to drop the penultimate Funyun. Do not worry, I believe it rolled safely under your seat. I should be able to retrieve it.”

“I’m not worried.” Rachel reached for the lever under her seat and slammed it backwards as far as her legs could reach, which was a considerable distance, considering how tall she was. Ax flew back into his seat, knocking his head against the headrest.

“You must always wear your safety belt while the vehicle in is motion,” Ms. Parker monotoned.

Rachel slid her seat back into position, and was just about to begin driving again when another vehicle made a left turn in front of her, causing her to slam on the brakes. Ax, who had still not buckled his seat belt, was thrown into the back of Rachel’s seat, head colliding once again with the headrest.

“You must always wear your safety belt while the vehicle in is motion,” Ms. Parker repeated.

“That little creep! Who was that? They cut me off on purpose!”

“You should never assume malice when incompetence will suffice as an explanation,” Ax said, attempting to wrap the seatbelt several times around his waist before buckling.

“I think that was Jake,” Marco said, grinning at Ax. “Did you just call Jake ‘incompetent’?”

“I thought you were Jake?” Ms. Parker asked, looking at her clipboard.

“Then I am Shawn,” Ax replied.

“Aaron!” Rachel hissed.

“Sharon.” Ax corrected.

“Mr. Priving, do you mind if we listen to the radio?” Jake asked.

“Oh, yes, there’s a segment about bird calls on the college station that I’d like to listen to.”

“Knock yourself out. Just turn left here and go along the English building towards the football field,” Mr. Priving directed, gesturing with his pen.

Jake, gliding through the stop sign, reached over to turn on the radio and search for the correct station. “Ooh, Kenny G,” he muttered happily.

“FIRE! FIRE! Somebody give me some water!” Marco yelped from the backseat.

Indeed, somehow, using only the plastic Funyuns bag and a magnifying glass that he had picked up from outside the science building on the way over, Ax had started a smallish fire in the backseat of the car.

“I will drive this car right into a lake if you two don’t stop acting up!” Rachel yelled from the front seat.

“I thought perhaps an addition internal combustion might make the car go faster?” Ax offered by way of explanation.

“Give me that water bottle,” Marco said, reaching for the bottle in the cup holder between the front seats.

“No!” Ms. Parker yelled, but she was too late. Marco’s unusually quick reflexes allowed him to scoop up the bottle, undo the lid, and upend the bottle over the flames in less time than it took Rachel to pull over to the side of the road.

To the astonishment of three people, and the dismay of one, the flames did not extinguish, but increased greatly and spread across the floor of the car with a roar of heat. Rachel glared at the instructor, who gazed back indifferently. Everyone leapt out of the car, and Rachel dashed inside the school to find an extinguisher.

“Hm, it’s a little early to be changing drivers,” Mr. Priving observed from the passenger seat of his car.

In the backseat, Cassie was giggling as Tobias pronounced ‘Wrong,’ after each bird call that the host of the college show attempted. Jake pulled smoothly, if a little crookedly, into the parking spot that Mr. Priving indicated, and pulled back out again, continuing in the other direction.

***

“Okay you guys,” Jake began two weeks later, as the team met up in the barn. “Does anyone want to explain why my parents got this letter that states I got a half-point deduction for…” He read from the sheet of paper in his hands. “ ‘Panicking and turning blue at a four-way stop’ or a five-point deduction for ‘growing an extra set of eyes during parallel parking’? Anybody? No?”


End file.
